Chhattisgarh teacher arrested for blinding student

Raipur, Jan 10 (IANS) A schoolteacher in Chhattisgarh has been arrested on the charge of partially blinding a six-year-old student by inserting a pin in her right eye because she had failed to reply to his question.The shocking incident took place in a private school, Saraswati Shishu Mandir, in Jurali village of Korba district, about 250 km north of here. Though Sweta Patel was blinded in November, it was only on Wednesday that her parents lodged a complaint with the police.

He said the accused initially tried to hush up the matter by bribing the parents but they lodged the police complaint when doctors said Sweta would never regain her eyesight in one eye.

School Education Minister Brijmohan Agrawal, who termed the incident “a blot on the teaching community”, said the government would ensure stronger punishment for the teacher and also bear the cost of the girl’s advanced medical treatment.